


Rinks

by sarabi81



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:34:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22220365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarabi81/pseuds/sarabi81
Summary: After a panic filled phone call Tessa journeys back through her life and all it encompasses. A tale of friendship, overcoming challenges and learning to understand.
Relationships: Scott Moir & Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir/Tessa Virtue
Comments: 13
Kudos: 38





	Rinks

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Virtue/Moir fanfic. I have written in the past for other fandoms but it has been years and years. Be kind, please. Hopefully it will take you on a trip into the future and a journey through the past. I make no promises on speed of updates but do have many parts in progress. I do promise to finish it. 
> 
> Thanks to my helpers and pre-readers. It's taken a bit of courage and pushing to actually post this.

Rinks

Prolog

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was standing on the top of a podium with my best friend. Well, actually, it was. It was a long, long time ago, but some days I can still taste the moment, that bite of exhilaration. Other days it’s a distant memory, foggy in the past. We were young and proud, determined, and some days dumb on hope. But we had a dream, a goal, a vision and most of all, each other.” She moved about the stage, filling the space and reaching into the would-be audience. “We were athletes but what we didn’t know in the early years was that we would be business partners too. In the beginning we were learning the business side of sport on the fly. We messed up, often. We took risks, some of which paid off, but many were short term and not overly successful. Over time we figured out the strengths in each other. He is all heart. I pull from my brain. He is the dreamer and believer of faith. I am the one with a plan, determination and a spreadsheet. He balances me and I balance him. We work as one, each two halves of the whole. We are each others biggest fans and strongest support. People often misread us, assumed we were young, or naïve in the early years and later on that we were lovers. We are partners, though, in almost every sense of the word. Sure, we are unusual considering we started this partnership at the age of 7 and 9 but we have worked on improving it for decades and in reality; we still do. What people often miss is that we are two people, two individuals that often moved as one, but we are still two separate individuals. That thought was something we had to learn. It was also one of our greatest struggles and our utmost strength. Today I am here to hopefully inspire you to be yourself but to do it with grace, respect and honour in your partnerships and relationships. We are here today to learn about partnership but more than that, I am here to encourage you all.”

She paused and looked out to the near-empty auditorium. The room was typical; cream coloured walls with large chandeliers filling in the ceiling space. Patterned carpet throughout and a bank of long tables lined the back wall with white cloths covering the ugly worn wood. The venue staff were working in the background, the lighting was being set, chairs placed in neat row upon row and somewhere in the far back dishes were being prepped for tonight. In another few hours, the hall would be filled with 250 people hopefully enthralled in her speech. Tonight’s lecture was focusing on encouraging women in professional partnership settings. It was part of her newest series. The new book was set release in a few weeks and this tour was about so much more than her past skating life. It was more about the years since.

“Sounds great, Tessa.” Tom’s voice boomed from the back of the hall. “Do you want to keep going?” He was her magic man, the king of lighting and sound. The guy that made her look good in impossible lighting and sound convincing, even when she floundered.

She waved a bottle of water at him that she had scooped off the nearby table. “Give me a minute.” She replied taking a big slug from the bottle. They had been at rehearsals for a couple hours already. The first day of a seminar weekend was usually a random schedule of sound checks, timetable adjustments and meet and greets with some of the participants or staff before the guests arrived in the evening. Tessa turned around, her back to the open venue and took another sip from the bottle as her assistant Amy passed her phone to her.

“It’s been going off for five minutes. Might be important.” Amy said as she walked backstage.

Noticing five missed calls, Tessa hit the voicemail button and froze at the voice on the message. As it played, it felt like the world slowed down. She could hear the rapid pulse of her own heart beating as the background noise faded away. Her breathing became shallow as the message concluded, her stomach dropping to the floor and she knew had to get out of there. She could hear a voice calling out in the room, but it took her a minute to realize her own body was moving without thought and it was her voice, rich with panic that was calling out. “Amy get me my bag, never mind … a car … crap.” Tears reaching the edge, threatening to spill over. She didn’t have time to cry. “Home, now!” was on repeat in brain. She reached for her purse and coat from the back of the chair just past the stage as she sprinted across the room. “I have to go.” She connected briefly with Tom’s eyes desperately trying to give him both her trust and panic as she bolted out the door of the room and into the lobby. “I will call you from the airport.” She yelled back into the room. Tom rushed to follow her out of the room.

“The airport? Tessa you have a show in five hours.” He called out in utter confusion as to what was happening.

She paused briefly at the heavy swinging doors of the lobby, “I know, but I can’t stay. I will call you. I’m sorry and thanks.” Her voice was shaky and broken. Tessa let the doors close and hopped into the first waiting cab she saw outside the hotel.

Thirty minutes later, standing in the doorway of the Montreal airport she knew this was not going to be easy. The crowd was crazy; crying children, frustrated passengers and staff that looked on edge. The brewing snowstorm outside might make her plan to hop on the next flight impossible. She pushed through the crowd making her way to the VIP desk. Money might not buy happiness but she prayed it get her home as soon as possible. As politely and patiently as she could muster, Tessa gave the lady at the desk her story. She needed to get home. Soon. She couldn’t be 700 kilometers away, not now and she knew she had no time to waste.

“I’m so sorry Ms. Virtue but everything is grounded. And not just here. Toronto was slammed by a wall of snow earlier today. Nothing is leaving right now, or anytime soon.” The lady’s face showed compassion and care that Tessa appreciated, even if she really couldn’t help.

“Another airline? Private jet or helicopter? Funds are unlimited. I have to get out of here.” She was barely holding it together. Her breathing started to race again as her heartbeat felt relentless, pounding in her chest. She needed to be home. The lady at the desk just shook her head sadly.

“I’m so sorry ma’am, they just closed all runways.”

“What about a train?” Tessa muttered to no one in particular and pulled out her phone, loading the train schedule. _Nothing until the next morning._ This couldn’t be happening with her so far away. Why did she agree to this conference? She knew something was going to go wrong. “That’s not good enough.” She sighed, her mind racing to find another solution. Driving, she was only 8 hours away. “Can you please point me to the car rentals?” The lady directed her downstairs by the arrival carousals and Tessa took off running, for once not dragging a suitcase. The line for rentals was stretched out past the lobby doors. _Please,_ she silently prayed. _I have to get out of here._ Forty minutes later she was led through the parking lot to a line of waiting cars.

“Here you go, ma’am. It’s full of gas but please be careful. The storm stretches right around Lake Ontario and I heard there are already road closures in some areas.” The young man, who couldn’t be more than 20 years old looked at her with a sad, sympathetic look but handed her the keys holding the door open for her.

“I know but I have no choice. Thank you.” She smiled at him and climbed up into the SUV, thankful to have a larger vehicle. Eight hours and she would be home. She plugged in her phone, took a deep breath and headed for the parking lot exit.


End file.
